Unhappy with rejuvenation efforts undertaken by Karnataka government agencies for revival of Bellandur lake in Bengaluru, the National Green Tribunal has ordered the Karnataka government to clean the lake within a month and a complete shutdown of industries around the lake. The tribunal has also directed the state government to set up a committee headed by the Urban Development Department (UDD) for monitoring of the rejuvenation efforts.
In a bid to ensure uninterrupted water supply in the river, the tribunal has ordered the environment and water ministry and Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to clarify on what should be the minimum environmental flow of the Ganga river in Segment-B (Haridwar and Unnao). It has also directed to stop excessive extraction of water and discharge of high pollutants in this segment and even shown willingness to regulate diversion of water into various canals so as to help maintain minimum flow of the river.
Irked with remarks of the Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, that the panel’s report on Yamuna floodplains is biased, the NGT has slammed the former by saying that ‘you have no sense of responsibility’. Earlier this month, NGT had held that the foundation was responsible for destroying the Yamuna floodplains during the World Culture Festival and that the rehabilitation of floodplains would cost Rs. 13.29 crores and take almost 10 years. However, the foundation has termed the report a conspiracy and wants to conduct a study of the report.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked other states to replicate Maharashtra government’s flagship project Jalyukta Shivar to overcome the water crisis in the country and help farmers. Several states--Karnataka, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh-- have also shown interest in adopting the scheme. The project that aims to make all 25,000 drought-prone villages in the state water reliant by 2019 was launched in 2015.
The World Bank has approved a loan of $375 million for capacity augmentation of National Waterway-1 developed on the Ganga river from Haldia to Varanasi under the Jal Marg Vikas Project (JMVP). The project aims to enable commercial navigation of vessels with a capacity of 1,500-2,000 DWT on the Ganga river and provide an alternative, viable, economical, efficient and eco-friendly mode of transport.
This is a roundup of important policy matters from April 18 - 24, 2017. Also, read news this week.
Lead image source: Bellandur lake sets on fire via NDTV